Bottom line for justice (“In Virginia, if you are foolish enough to think a $220 pair of sneakers is worth stealing, you could be looking at 1 to 20 in a state prison, and the label felon for the rest of your life… Only New Jersey’s trigger for a felony charge is that low. In law-and-order Texas, it’s $2,500.”)

Yet another reason to vote Barbara Comstock out of office next November – the following statement is from soon-to-be-former Rep. Comstock:

Today I voted in support of H.R. 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. This legislation, which I cosponsored, provides concealed carry reciprocity for individuals with valid state issued permits or licenses, or for residents of states with a right to constitutional concealed carry. This allows Virginia residents to continue to maintain their concealed carry rights when they cross state lines. Right now, current law creates confusion for people who cross state borders with a lawful concealed carry permit. The legislation also incorporated the Fix the NICS Act (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) which I also cosponsored, which strengthens compliance with the NICS background check system to prevent criminals from getting firearms by requiring states and federal agencies to develop plans to ensure they are uploading all relevant records and information to prevent gun purchases by felons and others who are not allowed to purchase firearms. Additionally, the measure would also penalize federal agencies that fail to fully report relevant records and it pushes states to improve their reporting timeliness and accuracy. This was bipartisan legislation that passed by a vote of 231-198.

From Sen. TIm Kaine: “I told Senator Franken yesterday I believed he needed to step aside because the behavior described by multiple women is just wrong. Senator Franken made the right decision today, but the Senate has more work to do — starting with releasing information about claims and settlements against Senators and their staffs, and fixing broken policies to foster safe work environments and ensure harassers are held accountable for their actions.”

What precedents will the Franken railroading set?
It his case, the dem gov of MN will appoint a decent replacement.

But what happens when a dem senator from state with a republican gov is accused of the same thing Al was?

I estimate (conservatively) that half the men who have served in congress have committed some kind of sexual indiscretion… not perhaps rising to the level of criminality that Trump, Moore and some have, but wrong all the same. How soon do we chase all of them out?

Until yesterday, I was hoping that sen Gillibrand would run for president. Now, I don’t think I would vote for her, even against the current incumbent! Wow..

Quizzical

In hindsight, it is hard to make sense and reconcile the sex scandals and the differing outcomes. To name two, Bill Clinton didn’t resign and served out his term; Barney Frank didn’t resign, and served many more years.

Looking back, maybe it would have been better if Bill Clinton had resigned. Gore would have become President, and maybe would have been re-elected, beating Bush. Gore wouldn’t have ignored the counter-terrorism warnings before 9/11. If the 9/11 attack had been thwarted, maybe we wouldn’t have had 16 years of wars. Maybe the whole approach to climate change would have been different, if Gore had become President. What benefit did we US citizens get from Bill Clinton hanging on? I don’t know.

As for Al Franken, his sex scandal seemed like pretty weak tea in comparison, at least to me. He made the decision to resign because he thought he could no longer be an effective Senator for the people of Minnesota. He’s in the best position to make that judgment, and it probably was the right one. Plus, he is holding himself accountable. That is an example worth the cost.